Great Expectations
Grand Central Station, New York, October 2001
As part of a month long festival titled UKinNY, Great Expectations was a major touring exhibition, commissioned by the Design Council, which aimed to promote Britain as a dynamic world leader across a range of creative industries. Casson Mann were responsible for the selection, curation, design and transferal of the installation which was initially installed in New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
Vanderbilt Hall, with it’s 12m high slabs of pink marble, and large chandeliers sees thousands of people rushing through the space daily. Casson Mann sought to create one single structure that would fill the space, but which would also create a setting for dialogue.
The solution was to install a long banqueting table made as a giant light box, that displayed 100 objects. The design intended to evoke the special moment when, after dessert, the remains of place settings are scattered about, and serious conversations begin. Graphics were integrated by placing text like speech bubbles relating to nearby objects.
In order not to disturb to the flow of people through the space, a gap was created in the centre of the table, designed to look as though the table cloth had flown up in the wind. Theatre lights were installed all around the edge to flood colour across the marble walls and into the huge windows in order to announce to 42nd street that something exciting was happening within.
The exhibition toured across the Far East, Australia and North America and won many awards.
Client: Design Council
Size: 280 square metres
Casson Mann’s role: Lead Consultant, Exhibition Designer
Team: Kerr Noble (Graphic Design), Richard Greenwood Partnership (Project Management), DHA Design (Lighting Design), Atelier One (Structural Engineers)